Support ending for venerable Windows XP

The long-time Microsoft operating system is sill used on many computers

Microsoft Co-Founder Bill Gates appeared with TV host Regis Philbin in New York when Windows XP was launched in the fall of 2001. Microsoft is ending support for the operating system after April 8.
— File Photo

Microsoft Co-Founder Bill Gates appeared with TV host Regis Philbin in New York when Windows XP was launched in the fall of 2001. Microsoft is ending support for the operating system after April 8.
/ File Photo

“That becomes a risk-mitigation problem,” Hicks said. “What you typically do in that situation is you lock out access to the Internet” in hopes of shielding XP computers from cyberattacks.

Sanford-Burnham has been migrating away from XP machines for the past few years and has only a handful of computers remaining to upgrade before April 8, Hicks said.

Dudek, a 400-employee environmental engineering firm based in Encinitas, also migrated most of its computers to a newer version of Windows. But the company still uses some software — such as a well-known Army Corps of Engineers water-flow program — that is not fully compatible with newer Windows operating systems, said Abe Esguerra, Dudek’s director of information technology.

Dudek uses the Army Corps’ program in computer models charting water runoff from development projects. “In the past some of our clients would require (the software) be used,” Esguerra said. “So that puts us in a spot where we are going to have to tell them we can’t because Microsoft is not supporting XP anymore.”

Esguerra added it may not turn out to be a problem in the long run. “There are fewer and fewer of those applications that we haven’t already replaced,” he said.

Over the years, Windows XP has hung on surprisingly well despite Microsoft’s efforts to move users to new versions of Windows. Since XP hit the market, Microsoft has released four Windows operating systems — Vista in 2006, Windows 7 in 2009, Windows 8 in 2012 and Windows 8.1 in 2013.

Yet XP still runs 29 percent of the world’s desktops, according to industry research firm NetApplications.com.

Industry experts say recent economic woes may have led businesses to postpone upgrading their older computers. But continuing to run an unsupported operating system can put a business in a bind not only with security but also with regulation and compliance.

“We don’t have a ton of that here, but I have been part of organizations where there are legal requirements that you have currently patched software,” said Hicks of Sanford-Burnham. “And for those folks, they just have to upgrade. There is no debating that because it’s the law.”

In addition, makers of printers, scanners and other plug-in devices are likely to drop drivers for Windows XP after support ends — which means a new printer wouldn’t work on computers running XP.

For some Windows XP users, their hardware may be so old that they need to buy a new machine— UT File Photo

For some Windows XP users, their hardware may be so old that they need to buy a new machine
/ UT File Photo

U-T San Diego still operates many XP machines. Microsoft will provide continued updates and support for business customers beyond April 8, but it charges a significant fee per computer to do so.

“We are going to try to get (computers) updated before the April deadline, if possible,” said Guillermo Perez, head of information technology at U-T San Diego. “Because once you go unsupported, then typically you have to pay Microsoft extra money to keep it going.”

There are some possible workarounds for companies with a lot of Windows XP computers, including setting up virtual systems where desktop machines operate as dumb terminals, with computing, Internet access and corporate network tasks run through back-office servers.